ISTJ (album)

On June 13, 2023, SM Entertainment announced that NCT Dream would be making a comeback with a new studio album, ISTJ, on July 17, seven months after their previous release, Candy. The album also follows the conclusion of the group's The Dream Show 2: In A Dream concert tour.^[1] ISTJ was confirmed to have 10 tracks, including the lead single "Broken Melodies", which was released on June 19.^[4] NCT Dream began promotions for ISTJ with performances of "Broken Melodies" on music programs such as M Countdown, Music Bank, Show! Music Core, and Inkigayo.^[5] A preview and track video of the song "Poison" was released on July 7.^[6] The title track, "ISTJ", served as the second single, was released on the same day as the album.^[7] The song was accompanied by a colorful music video, which features the group members being transported to "MBTI World".^[8]

The name of the album refers to one of the 16 Myers–Briggs Type Indicators, a personality type characterized by introversion, sensing, thinking and judging.^[9]

The opening and title track, "ISTJ" is a hip hop dance song, expressing desire to deviate from the stereotypes of MBTI personality types.^[10] Specifically, the song is written from the perspective of an ENFP individual and directed towards an opposite-personality ISTJ individual.^[11] The second track, and the lead single, "Broken Melodies" is a solemn pop song, with the accompanying music video featuring calls at a phone booth and depicting the struggles of a long-term relationship.^[12][13] "Yogurt Shake" is a sweet melodic song characterized by harmonic vocals.^[3] The fifth track, "Blue Wave", is a bright and rhythmic pop song, acting as a sequel to "Dive into You", a song from a previous album, Hot Sauce.^[10] It also features sounds of a pan flute and fast-paced lyrics.^[14] "Poison" is a sensual R&B song, conveying contradictory feelings of love,^[6] while "SOS" is a powerful hip hop dance song characterized by synth sounds.^[10] "Pretzel" is a futuristic hip hop song, featuring electronic synths, while "Starry Night" features sounds of an acoustic guitar and trap beats.^[3] The final song of the album, "Like We Just Met" is a slow ballad written by all members of the group and expresses the group's desire to stay with their fans forever.^[3][10]

On July 17, the album's preorders surpassed 4.2 million copies, a new record for NCT Dream.^[15][14] In the first week of release, the album sold over 3.65 million copies, becoming the third highest selling album in its first-week in South Korea.^[16] It also marked the third-largest sales week for albums in South Korea, according to the sales numbers on the Hanteo Chart.^[17] In the United States, "Blue Wave" became NCT Dream's first number one on Billboard's Hot Trending Songs.^[18]

According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)'s Global Music Report for 2023, ISTJ was the sixth most-consumed album across all formats, and the third best-selling album worldwide, having sold 4.6 million units.^[A][19][20]